Cheers! I reckon 2013 is going to be great, I'm excited for what it will bring.I've just arrived in Wanaka, having a New Year vacation with the family. 420km away from Christchurch so it was a decent drive! It's beautiful though, middle of nowhere and about as peaceful as it gets. Just about to pour a beer and start unwinding...

Heading down to Queenstown for the day, thoroughly relaxing out here! We have a gym at our villa but it's pretty basic, going to hit an arms session later as there's not enough plates & dumbbells for me to do much else haha. Looking forward to getting back into the heavy stuff but I must say I'm enjoying the break.

Heading down to Queenstown for the day, thoroughly relaxing out here! We have a gym at our villa but it's pretty basic, going to hit an arms session later as there's not enough plates & dumbbells for me to do much else haha. Looking forward to getting back into the heavy stuff but I must say I'm enjoying the break.

Wife has just given me a beautiful, thick 18ct white gold ring as a New Years present. I'm in a good plae right now! Will get a pic and post when I get back, it's a pretty stunning ring. One day left before we head back to Christchurch MF.

Well I've decided to stop putting it off and get to work on developing some of my own supplements. I'm more or less at the start of my research but my aim is to come up with at least a couple of products that are as strong and effective as I'm able to make them. You've only got to flick through the pages of the fitness mags; there's so many supplements out there today that over-promise and under-deliver, I'm sure I can come up with something that gets the job done without the hype and shiny labels. I'm prepared to pour the money into this and I'm quite excited TBH. I have a few guys that will be my trial subjects but really have no idea how long it will take before I end up with a 'finished' product. But gotta start somewhere...

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:Well I've decided to stop putting it off and get to work on developing some of my own supplements. I'm more or less at the start of my research but my aim is to come up with at least a couple of products that are as strong and effective as I'm able to make them. You've only got to flick through the pages of the fitness mags; there's so many supplements out there today that over-promise and under-deliver, I'm sure I can come up with something that gets the job done without the hype and shiny labels. I'm prepared to pour the money into this and I'm quite excited TBH. I have a few guys that will be my trial subjects but really have no idea how long it will take before I end up with a 'finished' product. But gotta start somewhere...

Nice, keep us updated on the project. If anyone can make a good one, you are a great candidate!

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:Well I've decided to stop putting it off and get to work on developing some of my own supplements. I'm more or less at the start of my research but my aim is to come up with at least a couple of products that are as strong and effective as I'm able to make them. You've only got to flick through the pages of the fitness mags; there's so many supplements out there today that over-promise and under-deliver, I'm sure I can come up with something that gets the job done without the hype and shiny labels. I'm prepared to pour the money into this and I'm quite excited TBH. I have a few guys that will be my trial subjects but really have no idea how long it will take before I end up with a 'finished' product. But gotta start somewhere...

I got a couple of PM's (from another forum) from a well known IFBB Pro BB'er and I thought the info was useful enough to post up here as well. Some of you might be able to take something from it

Evan Centopani wrote:Hey MF-

Do you have any feelings/opinions on the use of systemic enzymes like Wobenzym? I used it years ago and felt great...all my aches and pains went away and I slept like the dead. The only thing I noticed at the time was that I felt really flat. Granted, I was following a keto diet at the time and flat wasn't too uncommon, but I felt even flatter than usual!

Not familiar with the product but from having a look it seems to be a combination of digestive enzymes? Makes perfect sense to me and actually a good thing for a BB'er to be taking seeing how they often tend to eat large meals at regular intervals. Products such as the one you mentioned would have a host of benefits including things like reducing inflammation, bloating and flatulence (common among the BB'ers I have worked with haha), indigestion, food allergies and/or intolerance and pancreatic insufficiency (the inability for the pancreas to secrete enough enzymes into the duodenum).

Wobenzym would help to allow the breakdown of food in the digestive tract as there are specific enzymes required to break to the food down into their component parts (carbohydrates/proteins/fats) for absorption and utilisation by the body. If your digestive system is working optimally then everything else should be improved as well, possibly why you might have been sleeping better whilst you were taking it.

Evan Centopani wrote:Hey thanks Jim. From what I understand, these enzymes are supposed to be taken on an empty stomach are meant to work in the bloodstream rather than the digestive tract. I've heard them described as "a vacuum cleaner for your blood" Supposedly they can digest/eat up shit floating around in your blood and help your body get rid of it. I know they are HUGELY popular with people with cancer, immune disorders and thos wishing to reduce pain and inflammation. The product was originally produced in Germany by a company called Mucos Pharma but can be purchased in the US as Garden of Life has the rights to manufacture it here.

I guess what I would like to know (and I know this may sound meat headish) is would it be possible to decrease inflammation too much? To the point where it might interfere with muscle growth?

I can believe that about the enzymes cleaning up the blood. I really don't have an answer for your question regarding decreasing inflammation to the point of interfering with muscle growth.

My logic would suggest that it could be a possibility, as I'm thinking that major reductions in inflammation would have an impact on the white blood cells (they release phagocytes which consume the damaged cells ~ less inflammation would cause the phagocytosis to be reduced). As your WBC helps to run things like immunity/activation of T cells and helps control vasodilation of blood vessels (due to release of histamine) there may be a chance that the mechanisms and/or process of muscle growth could be affected.